Dive Brief:
- The trucking industry is raising concerns about President Joe Biden downgrading marijuana to a lower level of drug classification — especially how the move could threaten highway safety.
- The American Trucking Associations’ and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s questions about reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug include how it would affect carriers’ ability to test drivers for the substance.
- “Absent an explicit allowance for continued employer marijuana testing of safety-sensitive workers, this change may have considerable negative consequences for highway safety and safety-sensitive industries,” the ATA said in a letter to three federal department heads.
Dive Insight:
While opinions on marijuana might vary among members of the trucking industry, a collective concern is that existing drug tests don’t differentiate between active impairment and use in the past month or so.
Some drivers could argue that’s unfair, because “what a guy did a month ago doesn’t have a thing to do with what he's doing today,” OOIDA EVP Lewie Pugh said in an interview.
“Whether you're pro or con, or whatever, there's still a lot of questions when it comes to transportation and other labor,” Pugh said.
The American Transportation Research Institute has highlighted drivers’ and carriers’ shared frustration with current testing limitations.
The marijuana rescheduling has “no immediate, direct effect on drug testing programs for commercial drivers,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement.
But retired Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Chief Safety Officer Jack Van Steenburg put forward several questions of his own about reclassifying cannabis in a LinkedIn post.
“What will be the impact of CDL drivers if Marijuana is reclassified as a Schedule III drug?” Van Steenburg wrote. “Will it still be a disqualifying offense? Will drivers still be prohibited from operating a CMV?”
Dan Horvath, ATA SVP of regulatory affairs and safety policy, expressed concern about carriers losing the ability to test their drivers in his May 15 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Current federal Transportation Department drug and alcohol testing requirements allow trucking industry employers to test only for Schedule I or Schedule II drugs, ATA noted.
“If the trucking and broader transportation industries’ ability to conduct drug testing is restricted, the risk of impaired drivers operating on our nation’s roadways undetected would increase, endangering all who share the road,” Horvath wrote.
As of March, marijuana violations accounted for 60% of all positive drug tests among truck drivers, Horvath noted, citing the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse.
“While ATA acknowledges the prevalence and increasing societal acceptance of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, absent an impairment standard, testing for marijuana use by safety-sensitive employees must remain in place,” he wrote.
